Everything you need to know about Jay-Z and Beyoncé's real-life love story

Beyoncé and Jay-Z have one of the most famous yet most private relationships in the world. And while we're usually begging for scraps of information about the couple through their song lyrics, a timeline of their courtship has gotten clearer and clearer over the years.

1999-2000: The pair met

It all begins.
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Jay and Bey historians remain torn on the exact date they met, but Beyoncé told Seventeen Magazine that they were introduced when she was 18, so that would have been somewhere between September of 1999 and August of 2000.

2/

2001: They began dating

The couple kept things private.
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Though they did not confirm it at the time, Jay-Z later admitted that the pair began dating sometime in 2001, the same time they both appeared on a Vanity Fair shoot. Beyoncé said they began their romance by spending "a year and a half" on the phone.

"We were friends first for a year and a half before we went on any dates," she told Oprah Winfrey in an OWN interview later. "We were on the phone for a year and a half, and that foundation is so important for a relationship. Just to have someone who you just like is so important."

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2002: They began collaborating

A match made in music heaven.
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Though they were still trying to convince the world that they were not dating, they released their track "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" and filmed a music video together in their first collaboration of many to come.

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2003: "Crazy in Love" dropped

But they wouldn't publicly admit they were crazy in love in real life.
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The pair collaborated again on the iconic song "Crazy in Love," which won the Grammy for best R&B song. They also dropped several hints to dating each other on that track as well as another one called "That's How You Like It," where Jay raps "Young Hovah and the Letter B. How you like that, huh?"

This sparks a trend of the two referencing each other in song lyrics, but keeping their personal life private otherwise — advice we would later learn came from Oprah!

"I remember the first time you were on 'The Oprah Show,' I told you, 'Don't go around telling people who you're dating,'" Oprah said in a 2013 interview with Knowles.

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2004: They were seen everywhere

C'mon guys!
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Though they still wouldn't admit that they were dating, Beyoncé and Jay-Z were spotted kissing and cuddling everywhere.

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2004: They made their red carpet debut

Finally.
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The pair made their red carpet debut together in these very-early-2000s outfits at the 2004 MTV VMAs in Miami. At this point, people pretty much assumed they were together.

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2006: Bey alluded to wanting a wedding

Beyoncé heard wedding bells.
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Things moved pretty quickly from there when Beyoncé told Cosmopolitan magazine in a 2006 interview that she had a wedding on her mind.

"Right now, the tabloids are saying I'm pregnant, and they're naming the baby," she said. "It's hilarious. I don't know when I'll want to get married. I never pictured myself as a bride, but after my sister's wedding, I did start thinking about what kind of wedding I'd want. I don't think I want a big one."

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2006: But then lyrics alluded to them being on the rocks

Not so fast ...
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But that happiness seemed to be shortlived when Jay-Z alluded to some bumps in their relationship. In his track "Lost One," he rapped the lines "I don't think it's meant to be, B / But she loves her work more than she does me / And honestly, at 23 / I would probably love my work more than I did she."

Jay later confirmed in his book "Decoded" that the lyrics were about Bey and her amazing work ethic, according to Vulture.

"These lines are about trying to have a real, serious relationship with another ambitious professional," he wrote. "In a lot of ways, this is the flip side of the songs in my catalog like 'Big Pimpin',' where women exist almost completely as predators or objects. This is about how difficult it is to respect a lover as an autonomous human being, with separate needs and goals and time lines than yours. It's one of the hardest things about a real relationship of equals. But it's worth it."

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2007: Engagement rumors took the place of breakup rumors

Things took a turn ... again.
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Suddenly, the tabloids began reporting that Jay and Bey were engaged, according to Vulture. He was rumored to have popped the question on her birthday.

10/

2008: The pair got hitched

Not much was known about the ceremony at the time, but as the years have gone by, Beyoncé has spilled little details of the big day. She told Seventeen later that year that there was "no rush" to get married, but that she was proud of her decision.

"There was no rush — no one expected me to run off and get married," she said. "I really don't believe that you will love the same thing when you're 20 as you do at 30. So that was my rule: Before the age of 25, I would never get married. I feel like you have to get to know yourself, know what you want, spend some time by yourself, and be proud of who you are before you can share that with someone else."

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2010: Pregnancy rumors

A baby on the way?
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Beyoncé took a bit of a break from public life, so rumors swirled that she was pregnant. It turns out she and Jay-Z were turning their attention towards starting a family, but during this time she suffered a miscarriage.

"About two years ago, I was pregnant for the first time," she revealed later in a documentary, according to People Magazine. "And I heard the heartbeat, which was the most beautiful music I ever heard in my life … Being pregnant was very much like falling in love. You are so open. You are so overjoyed. There's no words that can express having a baby growing inside of you, so of course you want to scream it out and tell everyone. I flew back to New York to get my check up — and no heartbeat. Literally the week before I went to the doctor, everything was fine, but there was no heartbeat."

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2011: They were expecting!

Blue Ivy is on the way.
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In happier news, Beyoncé announced via her performance at the VMAs in 2011 that she was pregnant with her first child.

This, of course, spurned the wild conspiracy theory the Queen Bee did not carry her own child, but instead had a fake baby bump.

2013: "Life is But A Dream" aired, and we got more insight

We finally learn a little bit more.
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Beyoncé's documentary "Life Is But a Dream" aired on HBO where she revealed her pregnancy difficulties, showed clips of her wedding, revealed a sweet clip of herself and Jay-Z singing Coldplay's "Yellow" to each other, and much more.

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2013: Bey toured and they collaborated again

We learned more about the couple through their music.
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2014: They performed "Drunk In Love" together

2014: The elevator incident happened

It all went down.
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Jay-Z, Beyoncé, and her sister Solange attended the Met Gala together on May 7, 2014. Soon after, video footage was released of Solange hitting Jay-Z while the trio rode in an elevator while Beyoncé appeared to watch and do nothing.

Shortly after, the family released a group statement about the incident, according to People Magazine:

There has been a great deal of speculation about what triggered the unfortunate incident. But the most important thing is that our family has worked through it. Jay and Solange each assume their share of responsibility for what has occurred. They both acknowledge their role in this private matter that has played out in the public. They both have apologized to each other and we have moved forward as a united family. The reports of Solange being intoxicated or displaying erratic behavior throughout that evening are simply false. At the end of the day families have problems and we're no different. We love each other and above all we are family. We've put this behind us and hope everyone else will do the same.

In a verse for the remix of her song "Flawless," Beyoncé seemed to reference the incident with the line "Of course sometimes s--- go down when there's a billion dollars in an elevator."

2014: They went on tour while rumors of divorce swirled

2014: "Ring Off" sparked break-up rumors

But it wasn't about them.
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Beyoncé's song "Ring Off" added more fuel to the divorce fire with lyrics like "Until you had enough and you took that ring off / You took that ring off / So tired of the lies and trying, fighting, crying / Took that ring off."

2017: They announced they were expecting twins

Beyoncé once again shocked us all when she dropped a gorgeous announcement on Instagram that she and Jay were expecting twins.

"We would like to share our love and happiness. We have been blessed two times over," she captioned the post. "We are incredibly grateful that our family will be growing by two, and we thank you for your well wishes. - The Carters."